Some people also ask how I find so much time to write. One trick for me is that many of my posts (including this one) start in my cell phone. I can type without looking so I write when I'm walking. I also write on the subway or when I'm waiting on others to start a meeting or when I'm put on hold on the phone. Using my cell phone provides a great way to engage in anytime anywhere writing.

Since my book Teaching Generation Text came out, I commit to writing one post each week about cell phones so that takes care of one post each week and per a suggestion of a friend I do an end of the week recap on my slowest day of readership, Saturday. That takes care of two posts each week. That leaves me only five per week to write.

I develop a queue with about ten posts written in advance. This gives me a bit of a cushion.

If I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, I don't fight it. I write. I used to keep my computer out of my bedroom but I find keeping it next to me for unexpected spurts of inspiration has resulted in me banging out some good articles in the middle of the night.

I have a note in my phone called "Blog Ideas" and I jot down ideas as they come up. If I have a few spare minutes at any time I look at those ideas and start writing about one of them.

So, that's how I do it and how I get my inspiration for blog posts. How do you get yours?

7 comments:

I have been following your blog posts for a long time and I must say that you are truly an inspiration for me! I am a middle school technology teacher who recently attended the Siemens STEM Institute at Discovery Communications Headquarters this summer. As of last week, I have officially started my own blog and my hope is to give back to those who have helped me so much along the way! Thank you so much for all that you do for your colleagues all over the world!

So I am now at the point where I feel confident sharing out some of my blog posts! It took a little while for me to get started, but now I am totally hooked and blogging is so addicting! I love knowing that I am helping other teachers, while organizing my own thoughts at the same time.

These are great tips. I can especially relate to your bonus tip about keeping the computer next to your bed at night. Work/life balance advocates would kill me for saying that, but I think for creative people, especially, it's important to go with the flow. When an idea comes to me, I try to write it down immediately. I just got the iPhone and will often dictate posts into a note now, too, which is awesome. (Can't type without looking on a phone yet--that's pretty cool!) When you write things you're passionate about, inspiration can't be fit into a neat 9-5 window of opportunity. My best ideas are usually very late at night.